So I finished Far Cry 3's main story mode last night - I won't spoil the ending, suffice to say I think I made the right choice at the end.

I'd also cleared all the pirate camps out and activated all of the radio towers to uncover the whole map.

Now I'm left with a whole load of side missions to do but, as the narrative is effectively over & with a whole load of other games to start (Heavy Rain, Walking Dead, BioShock 2) and more to finish (Unfinished Swan, Need for Speed, Strangers Wrath, AC: Liberation) I'm lacking the motivation to complete them.

The same thing happened with Assassin's Creed brotherhood - I loved the game but once I'd taken all the towers and finished the main story, I didn't feel any real compulsion to go back and complete the Da Vinci side quests.

Which got me thinking... Why do developers create side quests rather than putting more content into the central narrative? Don't get me wrong, I've nothing against them and appreciate that many gamers love the diversion they offer - but to use FC3 as an example - I wonder if the development time spent on missions the player *might* see, would be better spent on content they definitely would see as part of the central campaign.

I've read similar arguments relating to the addition of multiplayer components into traditionally single player franchises (Tomb Raider being the most recent but BioShock 2 also springs to mind).

When I first thought about writing this blog post, it was going to be in two parts, but as I sat down to write it I realised that, thanks to Playstation Plus & SCEE's 12 Days of Christmas Sale, I've played more titles in the last 2 months than the rest of the year combined.

So I had to do a Peter Jackson, and turn my planned double entry <insert smutty joke here> into a Trilogy...

November

For me, Playstation Plus dominated November, not only was it giving me free games on the PS3 but also now on my beloved Vita.

The flagship PS3 title for this month was Crysis 2, not having played the first one I didn't really know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised, although towards the end I did tend to find myself stealthing and sneaking past the enemies rather than taking them all on. The story itself was ok, it didn't grip me like Far Cry 3 has, but by the time it started to wear thing I'd played too much of the game to not finish it.

I also dipped into Motorstorm Apocalypse & plan to return to it at a later point. I really liked this, it reminded me of the excellent Split Second, although unlike Black Rock's game, the track altering events can't be strategically triggered by the player.

Wipeout HD & Fury was also on sale, I'd not played a Wipeout game since 2097 and had a quick go - it's really good - but its sitting on my Pile of Shame right now as I've only completed 5 of it's numerous events....

The two Vita games I was playing this month were, the excellent Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack (another PS+ freebie) and Playstation All Stars Battle Royale, which is also fab and perfectly suited to the Vita - like the previously mentioned Mortal Kombat, Allstars lends itself well to short bursts of play rather than booting up a main console to play for an extended period of time... plus I'd picked it up for £22 as a pre order so was quite chuffed with that My only quibble with the game is that its online matchmaking kept timing out, I had to pop my vita into my routers DMZ to resolve the issue, not an issue for myself but I would imagine it would confound a lot of non network savvy players. Oh and Ratchet's Level 1 is slightly OP.

December

And so as 2012 drew to a close I was drowning in quality games. In addition to the PS+ games, I picked up a copy of Sega & Sonic Allstars Racing Transformed for my PS3, I liked it so much I picked it up for the Vita too, tellingly I've played more of it on the Vita than I have the PS3 - again it's one of those short burst games - play it for longer than 30 minutes on the vita and your right bumper finger starts to complain. Incidentally, why ARE the bumpers on the Vita so spongey?

I also picked up Sleeping Dogs, Journey and The Unfinished Swan as part of Sony's Christmas Sale. Loved Sleeping Dogs & Journey - and I'm yet to really get into Swan.

The final game I picked up from the sale, and am still playing, is Far Cry 3. My GOD it's GOOD.

Before I playing FC3, I was convinced Journey would be my game of the year, but its been pipped to the post by UbiSoft's Island magnum opus. At the time of writing, I'm around halfway through the game & am about to move onto the south island. I can't recall the last game which gripped me this had - it's like Skyrim, but with guns and in the colourful jungle - it's the best FPS game I've ever played (and yes I've played Half Life 1 & 2) and its open world shenanigans eclipse those set by other open world juggernauts GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption.

So this is how I've spent most of my Christmas break, sticking C4 to jeeps and driving them towards enemy camps before bailing out at the last minute and then watching the whole base go sky high, sliding down zip wires all guns blazing, setting drug plantations ablaze whilst Skrillex wub wub wub's in the background, and punching sharks in their fat, toothy faces.

So for me, at least, 2012's games really did save the best until last - Ubisoft, I salute you.

The distinction used to be clearer, I mean, I don't do motion controls, nor those god awful Facebook or "free" mobile games funded by microtransactions. I don't enjoy touchscreen controls, I need buttons and sticks. So I should be a "hardcore" gamer... Right?

But here's the thing, as I get older I've noticed that I've stopped playing games for the "challenge" and instead will usually play them on easy so I can enjoy the narrative. Simply put, I no longer have the time to spent mastering a tricky game but instead find myself wanting to enjoy all the game has to offer without having to repeat sections over and over again. Also (and uniquely to this console generation) I've become bored of the grey/brown aesthetic of most of the games, and find myself drawn to those titles which eschew such colour palettes, I'm loving Far Cry 3 for this very reason, it's blue seas and green foliage are beautiful (and the main story is excellent to boot, much more compelling than that offered by any other FPS I've played recently.). Other games I'm drawn to also seem to have a wide range of colours or a unique art style, Journey, The Unfinished Swan & Sega All Stars racing transformed all have game worlds that I like to hang out in, offering me true escapism from the real world of mortgage payments and gas bills.

In a gaming landscape which has been dichotomised by the labels casual and hardcore, I seem to be neither. I suspect that, rather than having two, simplistic labels, that a full classification spectrum of gamers exists somewhere.